Tired and ReTired

As the days turned into hours counting down to Tim's retirement, farming life fought to take center stage over the excitement of retiring on Friday, January 9.

Back in May and June of 2025, Tim and I were thrilled to buy a new bull named Emperor and a heifer named Tomiko, both boasting world-class genetics. We were surprised and excited to learn that Tomiko was bred before we acquired her, with the baby expected in January. An ultrasound confirmed it was a girl, due around January 16.

A Morning Surprise

On Thursday, January 8, in the early morning hours, our two healers, Pepper and Peaches, were barking behind our house. It was barely daybreak, and I could see they were chasing Tomiko and Emperor.

Story within a story... As you may recall, Pepper and Peaches were dumped, and we decided to keep them. Initially, we didn’t realize they were chicken killers. They weren't just killing chickens; they were eating them! This led us to change how we raise our chickens. We now have a smaller flock kept in a large fenced-in chicken run to protect them from the dogs. However, the dogs soon started killing our guineas. So, we bought training collars. I caught them red-handed killing guineas and pressed that button, but the collars didn’t work. I returned those collars and bought another brand, intending to use them only if I caught them in the act. We love our dogs and struggled to keep them, but we chose to do everything we could to make that happen.

In this case, I was thankful to have those collars.

Pepper & Peaches running Tomiko

Back to the story... I saw the dogs chasing Tomiko and Emperor in the pen behind our house, so I grabbed the controllers and cringed as I tapped the shock button. Yipe! Yipe! The dogs stopped, and it worked like a charm. After a while, I went to work.

That evening, Tim came home and said, "Grab your camera! Tomiko has a new baby!" What a beautiful little heifer, born eight days early. When we looked at the cameras, we saw she was born and up walking within one hour of being chased by the dogs. She was a healthy little heifer, and we are so grateful that we did not lose her.

Tomiko's Miss Steak - our new baby wagyu calf

Her Name is "Tomiko's Miss Steak"

Tomiko was a little young to be bred, and it was certainly not intended. It seems perfectly fitting that Tomiko, a top 5% Wagyu heifer, should be named "Tomiko's Miss Steak." She will get to stay with us since our new bull is not her daddy! We expect her offspring to provide beautiful steaks in about five years.

While I was out with the camera taking pictures of Miss Steak, Tim was giving a bale of hay to the herd. While doing so, he saw one of our momma cows had died because she got stuck in the mud by the tank. The drought is severe, and the waters have all gone down, leaving the herd no choice but to walk in deep mud to get a drink. Sometimes they just can't get out of the mud. Even if you could pull them out, it's hard to save them. Often, our joys and sorrows are intermingled.

We were happy to have a new baby and sad to lose one of our young mommas. The only way to never lose anything is to never have anything, so we have grown to accept the good and the bad.

The cost of having someone clean out a tank is very expensive, and we just had that done at our place in Warda a few months ago. There is no rain in sight, and that tank is still dry. I don't know what we will do about the muddy tanks at home.

Later that evening, Tim had a church council meeting, and I was home. I moved Peaches and Pepper into the backyard for precautionary measures, although they seemed to have learned their lesson about chasing cows that we didn't ask them to "work."

It was dark, and I heard them barking ferociously. I went outside with a flashlight to see what was happening. I was so happy to see they had caught a mouse in the yard! I praised them for their efforts and even took a picture of Pepper with her prize.

Pepper caught a mouse.

No sooner had I gone inside than they started barking again, this time towards the front of the house. To my shock, I heard the cry of a baby calf, and sure enough, there was a newborn heifer looking up at me. My thought was, "Oh no! How could Tomiko's Miss Steak get out of the pen?" I opened the side gate and walked behind it, hoping it would go through the front yard gate so that I could return it to Tomiko. But that silly baby darted away from me at the last minute and ran towards the brush. I managed to get around it and stood between it and certain death in the woods where coyotes howl nightly.

There I was, home alone, and Tim was in a meeting. I called Whitney and Dustin, explaining where I was located in hopes they would come over and help me. But then Tim called to say he was on his way home. Thankfully, he got there quickly and caught the baby. We placed it in our new cattle trailer and then went to check on Tomiko and her baby.

To our joy, Tomiko's Miss Steak was with her momma, and they were both doing well. So the mystery question was, "Who did this baby belong to?"

Tim's Retirement Day!

Friday morning came early, and it was Tim's retirement day. His party was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. By 7:30 a.m., we were already back from town with milk replacer, and that baby took a bottle like a champ.

Would Tim become a "Stay-at-home Mom"?

Tim got to work, and the party went on as planned. It was so nice! The whole staff of a hundred people joined Tim with gifts, cake, and lots of wonderful stories and speeches. Tim felt so honored, and we were all filled with emotion.

That afternoon, we had some time to inspect the herd and discovered two more babies, making four total—three girls and one boy born on January 8 and 9. So many blessings! We are pretty sure that the momma we found in the mud is the mother of the orphan calf.

On Saturday morning, we fed the baby at 5 a.m. so that we could leave for a volleyball tournament around 6:30 a.m. Needless to say, we were tired, hence the name of this blog post, "Tired and ReTired."

On Sunday after church, we were able to tag one of the herd baby heifers, but we had a little trouble catching the baby bull calf. Peaches was there, and her instincts were spot on. She turned that calf away from running off, and we were able to band (castrate) and tag him. Peaches did a great job, and we could not have done it without her. These young heelers need guidance, and with Tim being home, they will have someone with them at all times to train them to be the cow dogs they were born to be. The main use for the collars is the recall button, which we use to teach Peaches and Pepper to come back when called. It also has a vibrate button to get their attention when the sound alone does not work. The shock feature will only be used to save another animal from distress or death. We hope we never have to use it.

Tired No "Stay-At-Home Mom"

Raising a bottle baby is demanding work, requiring three feedings per day. Since our weekends are spent traveling to tournaments for volleyball, basketball, and soon baseball, we knew we had to sell the baby. So we took her to the auction barn on Monday. Apparently, there is a good market for bottle babies, and someone will have a sweet little baby following them around.

Tim's First Day At Home Alone was Tuesday - It's Always Something

On the first day Tim was retired and home without someone there, the neighbor's cow and calf were seen in our pasture. It turns out the creek crossing needed attention. This is the first time Tim didn't have to take vacation to fix the problem.

And now we wonder what today will bring. We'll let you know in the next blog post!

At Weise Farms, we pride ourselves on offering premium, all-natural, pasture-raised, sustainably farmed Wagyu beef. Our commitment to health and sustainability ensures that every bite is not only delicious but also a choice you can feel good about. If you're looking for luxury, health, and exclusivity in your meat choices, consider our Wagyu beef for your next culinary adventure.